Out and about in Byron Bay - Meet Candice Briggs

For those of you who aren't familiar with our buzzing community here in Byron Bay, we thought we would take the chance to profile some of the inspiring people we have in our day to day lives.

We would love to introduce to you, Candice Briggs, a long time friend of the Sea Bones team. Candice is a local fitness coach, a smiling assassin, some might say.

Encompassing a healthy and active lifestyle next to the ocean, Candice is always radiating and we thought it would be rude not to share some of her goodness with you!

1. What does the day in the life of Candice look like?

Life as a fitness coach is definitely not your standard 9-5. You work at sunrise and sunset, with a big gap in the middle of the day! My first client starts at 6am, and I usually train around three clients in the morning and then head for a coffee and a swim.

The middle of the day is saved for my own fitness (usually a lighthouse walk, swimming laps, or a surf with my friend Paul!) then I am back to work for two more sessions and finish by6pm.My evenings on work days are very quiet, as my nervous system is pretty sensitive and needs a lot of calm vibes to unwind from the day. I cook myself a yummy dinner, and meditate before heading to bed by9:30pm.

On the weekends I start the day with a swim, then spend time with friends as much as possible and often am out in the evenings sharing a meal.

2. How did you find yourself in your profession?

I was always very active growing up, and naturally excelled in competitive sports. My mother originally got me in to swimming lessons at a young age to help with my asthma… lessons turned in to competing and I found I had a natural interest in looking at all the ways I could support myself to be the best at it through nutrition and other forms of fitness. I naturally loved taking care of my health. Exercise was always a tool I very much valued growing up as a way to release anxiety, still to this day it ranks at the top in terms of taking care of my mental well-beingl!

3. What is your favourite part of your job?

I have a real passion for creating community within my work, I love how the women connect and build friendships within the group work I teach! My classes are always pretty tight knit, yet so welcoming to newbies, it’s really special. It’s inviting, and it keeps people committed to showing up. Everyone truly cares about one another. One of my clients recently said she see’s us more then she talks to her family on the phone. I love seeing a client blossom, when her strength builds, as her confidence lifts, and how that can have a knock on effect to the rest of their life! Lots of my clients have been with me for a long time, so watching people evolve and change is pretty damn special.

5. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an actress.. I used to stand next to the television and pretend to be the news reader.

5. How do you like to spend your spare time?

I spend a lot of time in the ocean. I swim most days all year round, and am trying to surf more again as I stopped for quite some time! I love going for hikes and finding freezing water holes to jump in, sharing long breakfasts with friends, sunset beach dates, going to yoga, and I spend a lot of time learning and practicing energetics and mysticism, I take my spiritual life very seriously.

6. How did you get into surfing? And where is your favourite break?

I was 14 when I first started surfing, my best friend in high school’s step dad took her and I surfing every day over the Christmas holiday’s one year at Broken Head and we used to just charge every day, surfing in the morning and again in the afternoon! I regret not starting out on a longboard, at the time I was given a short board that was super advanced for a beginner and it took me a really long time to progress! Then when I was sixteen my first boyfriend used to spend a lot of time pushing me on to waves at Wategoes, bless him! Wategoes is still my favourite surf spot!!